Razor blade sharpener



May 29, 1934. LIERM ANN 1,960,706

RAZOR BLADE SHARPENER Filed NOV 19, 1932 INVENTOR:

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BY TORNEYS.

Patented May 29, 1934 UETED STATES f i g 1,960,705

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RAZOR BLADE SHARPENER Adolf Liermann,

Philadelphia, Pa.

Application November 19, 1932, Serial No. 643,334

3 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for sharpen ing razor blades,particularly safety razor blades.

My invention has for its main object the provision of simple andinexpensive devices of the kind referred to whereby safety razor bladesof various standard types can be sharpened quickly and effectively forre-use.

The indicated advantages I realize, as herein after fully disclosed, ina sharpening device consisting of two parts or components, one asharpening member with a hollow affording a smooth hard roundedsharpening surface, and the other a rotary holder for the. bladesfitting the hollow of the first mentioned component and affording aresilient seat whereby the blades are gently pressed so that theirsharpening edges are maintained in light contact with the curved innersurface of the sharpening member.

Other objects and attendant advantages of this invention will bemanifest from the following detailed description of the accompanyingdrawing; wherein, Fig. I is a perspective view of my improved razorblade sharpener showing how the same is used.

Fig. II is a perspective view of the blade holder component of thedevice showing a doubleedged safety razor blade in place thereon.

Fig. III is an end elevation of the blade holder looking from the leftof Fig. II.

Fig. IV is a fragmentary sectional view taken as indicated by the arrowsIV-IV in Fig. I.

Fig. V is a perspective view of a resilient seating pad whereby theblades are yieldingly supported on the holder.

Figs. VI and VII are views corresponding to Figs. II and III showing asafety razor blade with a single cutting edge in place on the holder.

As delineated in Fig. I of these illustrations, the razor bladesharpener of my invention comprises 40 ;a sharpening member 10, and ablade holder 11. The sharpening member 10, it will be noted, is hollow,and, in the present instance, has the form of a drinking glass ortumbler which is preferably made of glass and whereof the interior isslightly tapered inwardly with provision of a hard smooth and somewhatconical round sharpening surface 12. The blade holder 11, on the otherhand, is preferably fashioned from wood or molded from a suitablecomposition such as fbake-lite for example, with the body portion 13which is tapered and rounded to fit the hollow of the sharpening member10, and formed at one end with a finger grasp 14, which, when the partsare assembled as in Fig. I, projects diametrically beyond the mouth ofsaid sharpening member.

From Figs. III and IV it will be observed that the blade holder 11 has atransverse profile corre-; sponding to that of a bell.- The roundedbottom surface 15 of the blade holder 11 provides a substantialconformative area to firmly bear on the inside of the surface 12 of thesharpening member 10, and a narrower curved top surface 16 of smallerradius on which is mounted a resilient pad 17 (Fig. V) of soft rubber orthe like that serves as a retaining seat for the razor blades.

As shown, the pad 17 is formed with three longitudinally-arrangedupstanding circular projections 18 which are spaced to fit the hollows(or lateral indentations of longitudinal slots as the case may be) ofstandard double-edged safety razor blades like the one indicated at B inFigs.

I and II to centralize and prevent displacement of such blade on theholder 11 during the sharpening operation. A packing 19 of absorbentmaterial like felt is lodged in a longitudinal medial groove 20 in therounded bottom surface 15 of the holder 11 to serve as a medium forholding a quantity of water or other suitable lubricating medium.

In using the device the double-edged razor blade B is placed on theresilient pad 17 of the holder 11 with its openings engaging theprojections 18 of said pad after the manner illustrated in Figs. I-III.The holder 11 is then inserted into the hollow of the sharpening member10 as in Fig. I incident to which the resilient pad 17 yields to permitslight flexure of the razor blade B so that the upper bevels of thecutting edges of said blade lay tangentially against the curvedsharpening surface 12 of the member 10 as shown in Fig. IV. With theparts so positioned the holder 11 is oscillated or rotated with theresult that the contacting bevels of the blade edges are rubbed back andforth over the sharpening surface of the member 12. After severaloscillations or rotations of the holder 11, the latter is removed, theblade B inverted, and the operation repeated as, before. During thesharpening operation, lubricant is supplied to the surface 12 of thesharpening member 10 by the wetted packing 19 at the bottom of the bladeholder 11. Obviously, the pressure on the blade edges may be increasedby forcing the holder 11 further into the tapered hollow of thesharpening member 10 to insure proper tangency as between the bevels ofthe blade edges and the sharpening surface 12.

My sharpener may also be used to sharpen single edged blades such as theone indicated at 13' in Figs. VI and VII, which blade is placed on theresilient pad 17 so that its reinforcing strip R abuts the projections18 of said pad as shown. The blade B is thus definitely positioned onthe holder 11 and when the latter is inserted in the hollow of thesharpening member 10, said blade is prevented from shifting under thepressure exerted by the resilient pad 1'7. After several rotations oroscillations, the blade holder 11 is removed from the member 10, theblade B reversed, and the operation repeated in exactly the same manneras hereinbefore described in connection with the sharpening ofdouble-edged blades.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 1. A razor blade sharpeningdevice comprising a sharpening member with a hollow affording a smoothhard rounded sharpening surface; and a rotary blade holder fitting thehollow of the sharpening member, said holder being adapted to support arazor blade with its cutting edge in light rubbing contact with therounded surface of the sharpening member, and carrying a wetted materialto lubricate the sharpening surface aforementioned incident tooscillation or rotation of the holder.

and hard cylindric sharpening surface, and a rigid material rotary bladeholder fitting into the inner cylindric surface, said holder embodyingan end finger-hold and being of bell-like transverse profile to providea longitudinal base conformative to the sharpening surface with adiametrically opposing narrower surface of smaller radius, a retainingseat of resilient material in the narrower surface with projections toengage the customary apertures in a conventional safety-razor-blade, andan inset pad of absorbent material medially coextensive of thelongitudinal base to hold suitable lubricating medium.

3. As an article of manufacture a safety-razor blade holder comprising arigid material block embodying a finger-hold extension at one end andbeing of bell-like transverse profile to provide opposing longitudinalcurved surfaces of different width and radius, the wider of saidsurfaces having an inset pad of absorbent material mediallyeoextensivethereof, and the narrower surface including an attached strip of softresilient material embodying spaced projections to hold a conventionalsafety-razor blade.

ADOLF LIERMANN.

